Having an active email marketing list is part of a successful digital marketing campaign. While it is true that some companies are already shifting to social media as a primary marketing platform, email marketing is still one of the more effective ways to engage your market and nurture relationships.

An effective email marketing list doesn’t necessarily translate to having thousands of email addresses in your database. You also have to check for the quality of each address, and make sure that the addresses are up-to-date and accurate. Aside from these points, ensure that you have an effective email marketing database by doing the following:

Have content with ‘wow’ factor. Be it company announcements or email promotions, make sure that your email content is nothing short of amazing. Make it direct and varied; use images and videos, if applicable. Having interesting content will make your contacts stay subscribed and a high chance of having your content forwarded to their own contact list, contributing to your lead generation.

Connect your email address to social media. Have an opt-in form on your social media pages, or add an email signup call-to-action on your social media posts. If you post engaging content, people will associate your opt-in form with your business page and will more than likely subscribe using an active email address.

Let prospects know that you value privacy. Most consumers are cautious and aren't willing to give out an active email address because they don’t want their inboxes flooded with spam content. Assure subscribers that their personal information is strictly guarded, and make them aware that more than delivering content, you want to interact with them on a specific number of emails per month.

Convert direct mail prospects. Persuade your direct mail clients to subscribe to your emails instead. In your direct mail marketing pieces, include a call to action for email subscription, an address for online signup, and offer subscribers a choice to conveniently opt out of direct mail.

Gather prospects using offline events. Conferences and seminars can become a lead generating event; convince prospects that it would be much more convenient to register online for the event using their email address.

Optimize your social media content. You can build a prospect list on social media using contests and promotions. Construct a campaign where page subscribers will be directly engaged, such as photo or video submissions, and have them participate with their email addresses. Let them know that this information is needed to verify or recognize them for their work if they win.

Test and monitor your analytics regularly. There are a number of analytics tools available for you to monitor and gauge how successful your marketing activities are. Most of these tools will have a panel where you can test email addresses for their activity: number of bounces, unique clicks, and the like.

Deliver on your content from the get-go. Making promises is one thing, delivering on them is another. Make sure that people can see what they can expect when they subscribe in the opt-in form itself. By letting people know right away what they can get from subscribing, they will want to open your emails and see what you offer.